Vent valve



R. L. GATES Dec. 4, 1951 VENT VALVE Filed July 5, 1946 INVENTOR. 5' Elf/619560 1. 69255 cally the invention deals Witha spm'ngfloade'd tion -of i are r ea Patented Dec. 4, 1951 vim vsnvn Rvicha'id haGates, Dayton, Ohio, aSsig'norZtoB Gur *tis: 'Automotivegve'Devices, 1110.; Dayton, hio, -a.

"Applicationafilly 5, 1946: serial No; 681E577 4' Claims.

. 1 a This inventien -rel'ates to a'nqnexpensiveesprmg loaded valve adapte'd i to -be 'readi ly i opened by depressing a headportio'n of the valve. spe'eifivent ivalve especially 11 adapted for mg -2t11 from hot water radiatorsdr thelike whie va ve is composed "of a hollow screw plug body and a :solid spring :loaded 'valvem'ember sli'dable in :the

body betwe'en opened-and closed positions and wanting therewith to provide a drain or purge passageway therethrough.

Aceording :to this invention a 'hollow op'enended screwplugibody 01: housing slidahly reof 'the housing whenever the seal member: is unseated to dp'en the -otherend of the I housing. A

spring atts 'on the head' of '"the valveiin the housing to' urge the-seal ring into closed-position and to urge the head out of the housing. Adrain outlet is provided intermediate 'the'iends of ithe housing an'dlin i advance tfif'hthel seated position for ithe va1ve-"head-:'so'xthatifiuitt can: drain around the valve through th housing to the outlet with- "out fiewing pastithe"valve:head.

A feature of the veritionresides in theutilizainex ensive-worm machine par-ts 'that dily as'semb'led 'to' provide a spring l'oaded 'valve at very -low eo'st. The valve parts areinexpensivel assembled by a -simple pressing-"operatidn' and "re held in assembled relation -by "the seali ng trigring in turn asily slipped- -over anlendof "the valve 'into 'a grotive and-the end of -the valve is then sed to fla'ttenfit -for providinga' shouli'ztends laterally beydnd -the" diameter prevent remdval 6f the seat ring froin the "groove. I-n the event tliat the seal ringdeterioratesthis shoulde'r' 'wi'll 'still 'ho'ld the parts it in assembled ielatio n. It is then an "objet of th-invention tcr provide "spring loaded" vent valve Composed of cheaply 'forined "serewinaehineparts held in' readilyass'emitiled position byan inexpensive pressing op- Another object of "the invention'is to"'pr'ovi'de 'a vent'or purge valve"especially adapted for hot "end of the housing; together with an enlarged .52 head at thefibther 'endthereof 'for closingathe "adjacentaen'd of' th'e chousing awhen f-theshead bis depressed to unseat the seal: ring.

still ifurthersob-jeet :of \this 'ainventionizis =;to provide a valve whereins'a isolidfspringsloaded s member-2is'sslidablesin afhollowfopen-ended thousing to ralternately close ttliefopp'osite endsgxof the housing'=iand where-m thethousing 'has -axlaterally extending idrain *outletifintermediate 1 -the sends thereofrfon encoinmodatingtdrainage uout-ro the :housing whenever A one-rend not the housing 1-:is

opened. 7

FA 'furthermndlspe'cificiobject;- of the invention is; to iprovide 'a -vent valve; -adaptedr forapurging z-airifror'n fra'diatorsi 'or sthej likewhereinrasheadecl externally threaded hollowe-iplug slidably mounts 11a solid valve vand' coactsctherewith :to rprov'i de a drain.;passageway 'connectingwthe endof the plug with a; radial outlet: in the-plug.

"A" further object of--.-the invention :isato 'reduce the c'ost=:=and increase the ease of :operation of vent valvesf-forl purging ainirom radiators or the like. r

Other and f'urther:objec-ts-ofithe inventionvw-ill -be: apparent'tothose skilled: imthe-art=from the following? detailed description--01 the (annexed sheet of drawings which, i'iby" way +of vpreferred example; illustrates one embodiment of the -invention.

Onthedrawings: 7 e t Figure 1 is a side elevational view of -a vent valve according-atosthisinventionillustrating-the valve in. closed position. I

Figure- 2 =is a long-itudinalxcross sectional view a-taken along theflin'II-i-II of 'FigI fillustrating the-valve on a larger s'cale .aridshowing indotted lines the-originalform idf tlie end 6f the valve. "Figure? is a 'view'siniila'r to Fig. 2butshowing the valve 'i'n dpenedIposition. 40 Figure 4 'is'la "transverse cross'fse'ction'al view taken. along the'lihlaIV-IV ofFi'gfa. v i"'FigureF 5 is'fan exploded longitudinal "eross sec tional'vi'ew of the partsforming" the valve of 'this *inveritibmand'illustrating the same in'theirr'ela- -tive'positions forlassembly.

As shown on the drawings: "The valve I o 'is'composed of a "hollow openended pl'ug likbodyorhousing l l a'sdlid valve 12, a spring l3, and a resiliently"deformableseal f'ring l4" composed of'rubber, fiber,. plastici'or the like. "Thehousing' I Fhas'an'externally threaded "ta ered shank portion l I'a"for"threaded-insertion in the threadedportbf a'radiator or other-part -"to beselectively vented. Atpolygona h ad ll b ispro'vidd on thelarge end-ofthe tapered shank.

Ma and a radially extending bore He is formed through the polygonal head. The small end of the shank I Ia has a beveled end face I Id providing a valve seat.

Three stepped coaxial bores define the hollow interior of the body II. A small bore IIe extends inwardly from the valve seat at to a shoulder IIf at the junction between the shank I la and head I ll). A larger and middle bore I I9 extends from the outer end of the shoulder II to a second shoulder IIh. This shoulder Ilh is inwardly from the end of the head III). A larger bore IIi extends from the outer end of the shoulder IIh through the end face of the head III).

The valve member I2 is composed of a generally cylindrical solid body with a cylindrical shank portion I2a of smaller diameter than the bore I le of the housing H and with an enlarged cylin drical head I2b on one end of the shank I2a and having a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the bore IIz of the housing II. A shoulder I2c is provided between the shank portion I2a and the head I2?) and as shown in Fig. 3 is adapted to thrust against the shoulder Hit of the housing I I to close the bore I Ig.

The end of the shank I2a opposite the end containing the head I2!) is initially lathe turned by a screw machine type lathe to provide a reduced diameter cylindrical portion I2d bounded on one side by a radial shoulder I2e and on the other side by an inclined shoulder I2h diverging to about the same diameter as the shank I2a.

A pointed drill coaxial with the valve I2 forms a conical hole I21 in the reduced diameter end of the valve. This hole or recess I22 can be formed on the same screw machine that forms the contour of the valve. The apex or point of the recess I22 is selected to lie within the reduced diameter portion I2d and to regulate the thickness of the sloping portion I2h so that bending will occur at a predisposed point when the end of the valve is pressed. As shown in Fig. 2 the sealing ring I4 is disposed on the reduced diameter portion I2d of the valve against the shoulder I2e. The ring I4 has an external diameter larger than the diameter of the shank I2a so that the ring projects radially beyond the shank. The hole in the ring is sized for snugly fitting on the reduced diameter portion I2d of the valve. This hole can be stretched over the divergent end of the shoulder portion I2h shown in dotted lines. When the valve I2 is inserted through the spring I3 and housing II the sealing ring I4 is seated on the valve and the shoulder portion I2h projecting beyond the sealing washer is pressed to flatten it and provide a flattened radially extending shoulder I2g backing up the sealing ring I4 and projecting radially to a diameter greater than the diameter of the shank I2a. This shoulder I2g therefore cannot fit in the bore He and is effective to retain the valve in the housing even in the event of total disintegration of the sealing ring I4. The shoulder backs up the seating face of the sealing ringas illustrated in Fig. 2 when the ring is seated on the face (1 of the housing to prevent unseating of the ring out of the flat sided groove afforded by the pressed or flattened valve.

The spring I3 is seated in the bore 'I IQ of the housing and is compressed between the shoulders I and I2e. The spring expands to urge the head I2b of the valve out of the headed end of the housing and seats the ring I4 against the valve seat II d at the other end of the housing.

Under these conditions the valve is closed as shown in Fig. 2.

When the head I2b of the valve is manually depressed into the head III) of the housing, the spring I3 is compressed but the washer I4 is moved away from the seating face (I to open up a passageway through the housing around the shank I2a into the bore I I9. Under these conditions the shoulder I20 of the head I2b is seated against the shoulder Ilh. of the housing to close the outer end of the bore Hg. The fluid can then drain through the radially extending outlet IIc without discharging through the axial opening in the valve body. When the valve head is released, the spring I3 automatically moves the valve into its closed position as shown in Fig. 2.

The valve parts are inexpensively made on screw machines and are assembled as illustrated in Fig. 5 by slipping the spring I3 on the shank I2a of the valve I2, by inserting the valve and spring assembly into the housing II, by stretching the sealing ring or washer I 4 over the shoulder I211, of the valve body onto the reduced diameter portion I2d and by pressing the end of the valve to bend the shoulder I2h into flat form for forming the radial shoulder I2g.

As shown in Fig. 2 the beveled valve seat lid coacts with the sealing ring I4 to axially center the valve I2 in the housing II. Metal to metal contact between the housing and valve is thereby avoided.

The external threads on the shank portion I la of the housing are preferably tapered from the head end Ilb to the valve seat end IId so that the housing can be threaded into sealed engagement in an internally threaded boss.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to'limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A valve comprising a body having an exteriorly threaded shank and a polygonal head at one end of the shank, said body having three coaxial stepped bores therethrough, shoulders between said bores, the smallest of said bores extending through the shank of the body, the largest of said bore extending inwardly from the head of the valve body and the middle bore connecting the small and large bores in the head of the body, a drain outlet port extending radially through said head from said middle bore, a valve having a shank portion fitting freely in the smallest or said bores and projecting through the middle bore, a head on one end of the shank portion of said valve fitting freely in the largest of said bores and adapted to engage the shoulder between the largest bore and the middle bore, a spring surrounding the shank of said valve bottomed at one end on the shoulder between the smallest bore and the middle bore and at the other end on the head of the valve, a sealing ring of larger diameter than said shank carried by the other end portion of the shank and held by said spring against the end of the shank portion of the housing, and an integral shoulder portion on the shank of the valve extending radially to substantially the same diameter as the sealing ring for backing up the sealing ring.

2. The method of making a valve which comprises machining a cylindrical rod member to form a reduced diameter portion bounded on one side by a radially extending shoulder and on the other side by a diverging inclined shoulder, drilling an end face of the member to form a conical recess having an apex at the radial center of the reduced diameter portion and intermediate said shoulders, said recess and said inclined shoulder cooperating to define therebetween a bendable frusto-conical terminal Wall formed integrally with said reduced diameter portion, stretching a resilient ring over the terminal wall onto the reduced diameter portion to bottom against said radial shoulder, and bending the recessed end face of the member to radially spread the terminal wall and form an integral radial shoulder snugly engaging the ring face and extending to the periphery of the ring to reinforce the entire face thereof.

3. In the method of making a valve, the steps which comprise lathe turning a cylindrical member to form a reduced diameter portion bounded on one side by a radial shoulder and on the other side by a diverging inclined shoulder extending to the end face of the member, drilling the end face of the member to provide a conical recess therein having its apex coaxial with the reduced diameter portion and midway between said shoulders, said recess and said inclined shoulder defining therebetween a reduced thickness frusto-conical flange formed integrally with said cylindrical member, stretching a flat-faced ring of resilient material having a normal diameter greater than the diameter of said member over the frusto-coni-cal flange onto said reduced diameter portion, and flattening the end face of the member to bend said flange behind said ring to provide an integral radial shoulder extending to the periphery of said ring to reinforce the entire rear face thereof.

4. A valve comprising a body having an axial bore for fluid flow therethrough and a sealing end face at one end of said bore, said body also having an outer counterbore and an inner counterbore at the other end of said bore defining outer and inner interior annular shoulders respectively, a valving element extending through said bore and said counterbores for reciprocatory movement therein and cooperating with said bores to define therebetween coaxial fluid flow passages, said element having an enlarged head for abutting the outer of said interior shoulders and a peripheral groove spaced from said head, an annular seal ring seated in said groove for abutting said body end face, a side delivery fluid outlet inthe inner of said counterbores communicating with the coaxial passages, and a spring confined between the inner of said shoulders and the enlarged head of said element for normally biasing said seal ring against said sealing end face and said enlarged head from the outer of said shoulders, said element being movable in said bore and counterbores against the action of said spring to space said seal ring from said sealing end face to establish fluid flow through said coaxial passages to said outlet, and said head being simultaneously seated against said outer interior shoulder to prevent fluid leakage from said body through the outer of said counterbores.

RICHARD L. GATES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,235,645 Blatz Aug. 7, 1917 1,238,926 Long Sept. 4, 1917 1,302,829 Muir May 6, 1919 1,378,426 Sackett May 17, 1921 1,462,263 Chaney July 17, 1923 1,551,439 Stoms Aug. 25, 1925 1,682,154 Van House Aug. 28, 1928 2,408,541 Wilson Oct. 1, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 758,332 France of 1933 

